Retired armed forces captain Amiruddin @ Nadajaran Abdullah was granted a discharge for several counts of cultivation and possession of cannabis this morning.

However, he will still face charges for trafficking, which carries the mandatory death sentence.

Laywer Nur Hannan Ishak said Klang Sessions Court judge Emilia Kaswati had ordered a discharge not amounting to acquittal for several charges, on grounds that the Chemistry Department had not completed its report for the trial.

"Today, the court has decided to drop the charges for cultivating the cannabis plant and also for possession of drugs weighing more than 50g.

"Most of the charges have been (discharged), except for those carrying the death sentence," she told reporters today.

Amiruddin, 58, was charged 10 months ago, and has been held in detention since.

Co-counsel Samantha Chong told Malaysiakini that their client must now face charges for drug trafficking under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which has been transferred to the High Court.

"The captain was in tears when the decision was made," the lawyer said, adding that Amiruddin has been battling cancer while in custody, and only has one functioning kidney.

"Although the (lower) court dropped the cases today, it is still a long journey and we shall continue the battle (in the High Court)."

In January, a group of people who described themselves as Amiruddin's "patients" (photo above) had shown up in solidarity at the Klang court during a mention of his case.

Amiruddin was first charged last June, after police reportedly found as much as 97.995kg of cannabis at his home in Kampung Delek Dalam, Klang.

At the time, it was also reported that police had also seized various marijuana-infused products, allegedly for medicinal use, which were promoted online.